Battery condition detection in hand hygiene product dispensers

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for detection and analysis of battery condition information may be used with respect to, for example, battery powered hand hygiene product dispensers. The battery condition information may be used to identify potential low battery conditions, the type of dispenser, the type or form of product dispensed, and/or to detect occurrence of a battery replacement event in a hand hygiene product dispenser. The battery condition information may further be used to determine a number of dispenses remaining for a hand hygiene product dispenser. The battery condition information may further be used to provide battery condition information for battery operated hand hygiene product dispensers in hand hygiene compliance systems.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/708,035, filed on Dec. 9, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 16/022,037, filed on Jun. 28, 2018, now issued asU.S. Pat. No. 10,539,620, which is a continuation of U.S. applicationSer. No. 15/215,183, filed on Jul. 20, 2016, now issued as U.S. Pat. No.10,036,782, and entitled, “BATTERY CONDITION DETECTION IN HAND HYGIENEPRODUCT DISPENSERS,” each of which is incorporated herein by referencein its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure relates detection of battery conditions inbattery-powered devices, such as hand hygiene product dispensers.

BACKGROUND

Compliance with hand hygiene guidelines is considered the most effectiveaction health care workers can take to reduce pathogen transmission inhealth care settings. Despite this, hand hygiene compliance remains low,and improvement efforts tend to lack sustainability.

SUMMARY

In general, the disclosure relates to detection and analysis of batteryconditions in battery-powered devices. For example, the batterycondition detection techniques may be used for detection of low batteryconditions and/or to provide battery condition information for batteryoperated hand hygiene product dispensers. The battery conditioninformation may further be used to identify, for example, the type ofdispenser, the type or form of product dispensed, and/or to detectoccurrence of a battery replacement event. The battery conditioninformation may further be used to determine a number of dispensesremaining for a hand hygiene product dispenser. The battery conditiondetection techniques may further be used to provide battery conditioninformation for battery operated hand hygiene product dispensers in handhygiene compliance systems.

In one example, the disclosure is directed to a system comprising aplurality of dispensers each configured to dispense a hand hygieneproduct, each dispenser configured to detect a dispense event andtransmit a corresponding dispense event signal including dispenseridentification information associated with the dispenser, each of theplurality of dispensers having an associated dispenser type and anassociated dispensed product type; each of the plurality of dispensersfurther including one or more batteries configured to supply power tothe dispenser; and a voltage sensor that senses voltage informationcorrelated to a battery voltage provided by the one or more batteries;data storage media that stores low battery threshold data, the lowbattery threshold data including one or more low battery thresholds eachcorresponding to a dispenser type and a dispensed product type; and acomputing device configured to receive the voltage information, thedispenser identification information, the dispenser type, and thedispensed product type, the computing device further configured toidentify one of the one or more low battery thresholds based on thedispenser type and the dispensed product type, the computing devicefurther configured to detect a low battery condition if the voltageinformation satisfies the identified low battery threshold.

In another example, the disclosure is directed to a system comprising ahand hygiene product dispenser associated with one of plurality ofdispenser types and configured to dispense a hand hygiene product, thehand hygiene product dispenser including one or more batteriesconfigured to supply power to the dispenser; and a voltage sensor thatsenses voltage information correlated to a battery voltage of the one ormore batteries; the hand hygiene product dispenser configured totransmit dispenser data including dispenser identification informationassociated with the dispenser, the associated one of the plurality ofdispenser types, and the voltage information; data storage media thatstores a plurality of low battery thresholds each corresponding to oneof a plurality of dispenser types; and a computing device configured toreceive the dispenser data, the computing device further configured toidentify one of the plurality of low battery thresholds based on the oneof the plurality of dispenser types associated with the dispenser, thecomputing device further configured to detect a low battery condition ifthe voltage information satisfies the identified low battery threshold.

In another example, the disclosure is directed to a system comprising ahand hygiene product dispenser including one or more batteriesconfigured to supply power to the dispenser; and a voltage sensor thatsenses voltage information correlated to a battery voltage of the one ormore batteries; the hand hygiene product dispenser configured totransmit the voltage information; data storage media that stores one ormore low battery thresholds each corresponding to a dispenser type, andthat stores a plurality of discharge profiles each corresponding to oneof a plurality of dispenser types; and a computing device configured toreceive the voltage information and identify one of the plurality ofdischarge profiles based on the voltage information received from thedispenser; the computing device further configured to identify thedispenser type corresponding to the identified discharge profile.

In another example, the disclosure is directed to a system comprising ahand hygiene product dispenser, the dispenser defined by one of aplurality of dispenser types and including one or more batteriesconfigured to supply power to the dispenser; and a voltage sensor thatsenses voltage information correlated to a battery voltage of the one ormore batteries; the hand hygiene product dispenser configured totransmit dispenser data including the voltage information and dispenseridentification information including the defined one of the pluralitydispenser types; data storage media that stores one or more dischargeprofiles each corresponding to one of the plurality of dispenser typesand one of a plurality of dispensed product types; and a computingdevice configured to receive the voltage information and the dispenseridentification information, the computing device further configured toidentify one of the plurality of discharge profiles based on the voltageinformation and the defined one of the plurality of dispenser types; thecomputing device further configured to identify the dispensed producttype corresponding to the identified discharge profile.

The details of one or more examples are set forth in the accompanyingdrawings and the description below. Other features and advantages willbe apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example hand hygienecompliance system in which the battery condition detection techniques ofthe present disclosure may be used.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating electronic components of anexample dispenser, an example monitor module, and an example badge.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example communicationsenvironment in which the battery condition detection techniques of thepresent disclosure may be used.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example process by which acomputing device may detect a low battery condition of a hand hygieneproduct dispenser.

FIG. 5A is a graph illustrating an example discharge profile for a handhygiene product dispenser powered with 3 D batteries under a constantload of 200Ω.

FIG. 5B is a graph illustrating example discharge profiles for a firsttype of hand hygiene dispenser powered by 3 D batteries and a secondtype of hand hygiene dispenser powered by 3 C batteries.

FIG. 5C is a graph illustrating example discharge profiles for a “Large”type hand hygiene dispenser and a “Small” type hand hygiene dispenser.

FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating example battery usage over a matrix ofuse conditions in a hand hygiene product dispenser.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example process by which acomputing device may determine a number of dispenses remaining based onbattery voltage information received from a hand hygiene productdispenser.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example process by which acomputing device may identify a battery replacement event based onbattery voltage information received from a hand hygiene productdispenser.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example process by which acomputing device may identify a product type based on battery voltagedata received from a hand hygiene product dispenser.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example process by which acomputing device may identify a dispenser type and/or a product typebased on battery voltage data received from a hand hygiene productdispenser.

FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating an example discharge profile for a handhygiene product dispenser in which a battery was replaced.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In general, the disclosure relates to detection and analysis of batteryconditions in battery-powered devices. For example, the battery-powereddevices may include hand hygiene product dispensers, which may in turnbe part of a hand hygiene compliance system. The hand hygiene compliancesystem may monitor, analyze and report on hand hygiene compliance at ahospital or other healthcare facility, at a restaurant or other foodservice facility, or at any other location or environment wheremonitoring of hand hygiene compliance is desired. For purposes ofillustration, the example battery condition detection techniques will bedescribed with respect to battery-powered hand hygiene productdispensers. However, it shall be understood that the techniquesdescribed herein may be used for any battery-powered device, and thatthe disclosure is not limited in this respect.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example hand hygienecompliance system 10 in which the battery condition techniques of thepresent disclosure may be used. FIG. 1 shows a healthcare facility 2including a plurality of patient rooms or other defined areas 4A-4N. Inthis example, each room or area 4A-4N is associated with one or morehand hygiene product dispensers 16 and at least one monitor module 8.The system 10 further includes a plurality of identification badges 12,each uniquely associated with a different one of a plurality ofhealthcare worker (HCW) 6. Each monitor module 8 communicates with alocal hospital computing device(s) 52, remote or local server computingdevices 30 and/or with remote user computing device(s) 54 via one ormore network(s) 14. Computing devices 30, 52, and 54 may include, forexample, one or more of a server computing device, desktop computingdevice, laptop computing device, a mobile computing device (such as asmart phone, personal digital assistant, pager, etc.) or any othercomputing device. Network(s) 14 may include, for example, one or more ofa dial-up connection, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network(WAN), the internet, a wireless or Wi-Fi network, a cell phone network,satellite communication, or other means of electronic communication. Thecommunication may be wired or wireless.

Although certain examples are shown and described herein, it shall beunderstood that the dispensers, monitor modules, badges, and othercomponents deployed in any particular hand hygiene system may varydepending upon the number and location of rooms and other defined spaceswithin the hospital, the number and location of dispensers, thecommunication ranges of the devices, their power requirements, etc. Itshall be understood, therefore, that the number of dispensers, monitormodules, badges, etc., may vary depending upon the facility and theparticular system implementation and that the disclosure is not limitedin this respect.

In general, hand hygiene compliance system 10 detects entry/presence ofpersons in a patient room (or other defined area), identifies thosepersons and collects data concerning their hand hygiene behavior. Tothat end, each monitor module 8 is configured to detect entry and/orpresence of a person in the associated patient room or area (hereinafterreferred to for simplicity as “room” or “patient room”). Monitor module8 may further include a tag reader (not shown in FIG. 1) that isactivated when entry of a person into the room is detected. This isreferred to as an “entry event.” ID badge 12 includes electroniccircuitry (such as an RFID chip and antenna) that stores andcommunicates HCW identification information when interrogated by thereader. The entry or presence information, such as time and date stamp,and the HCW identification information may be transmitted from badge 12to monitor module 8. Alternatively, if the person entering the room isnot an HCW and does not have an associated id badge, monitor module 8may store the entry information along with data identifying the personassociated with the detection as a non-HCW.

Upon receipt of the entry and identification information, monitor module8 may send a “wake-up” signal to dispensers 16. This wake-up signal maycause dispensers 16 to enter an “invitation mode”, in which thedispenser activates one or more visual or audible indicators whosepurpose is to remind the person entering the room of a so-called handhygiene opportunity. In some examples, dispensers 16 may receive suchwake-up signal directly from monitor module 8.

Each dispenser 16 includes an activation sensor that detects when a handhygiene product is dispensed. This is referred to as a “dispense event.”For example, an activation sensor may detect when a dispenser button orbar is pushed or pulled to dispense hand hygiene product, may detectwhen an infrared or other touchless dispenser detects presence of auser, may detect the actual dispensing of the hand hygiene product, ormay detect some other activation mechanism for dispensing hand hygieneproduct. Each time the activation sensor determines that dispenser 16has dispensed hand hygiene product, the dispenser records a dispenseevent and attempts to identify a HCW badge signal within range of thedispenser reader. If a badge responds with its badge ID, the dispensermay associate that badge ID with the dispense event. If no badge ID isdetected, the system may associate the dispense event as beingassociated with a non-HCW or other badgeless person.

The dispenser may use one or more of several techniques to obtain theHCW identification information from a target id badge 12, and/or toensure that the correct HCW identification information associated withthe dispense event is isolated in the event that two or more tagsrespond. The HCW identification information associated with the dispenseevent, and any other relevant and/or available dispenser data regardingthe dispense event, such as dispenser id, product name, time, date,etc., may be stored by the dispenser as dispenser data. In addition todata regarding a dispense event (time and date stamp, dispenser id, HCWid, etc.) the dispenser data transmitted by dispenser(s) 16 may alsoinclude status data such as dispenser battery voltage, detection range,hand hygiene product, number of dispenses, out-of-product status, etc.The detected dispenser battery voltage, may be further analyzed, eitheralone or in conjunction with other data, as described herein toidentify, among other things, potential low battery conditions, or todetermine other information concerning the dispensers at the facility aswill be further described herein. Each dispenser 16 may transmit itsdispenser data to the associated monitor module 8. Dispenser(s) 16 maytransmit dispenser data at predefined periodic intervals, uponcompletion of each dispense event, and/or upon request.

Monitor module 8 collects the hand hygiene data from each of dispensers16 in the associated room 4A. In some examples, monitor module 8 is ACpowered and is continuously available to receive information from theassociated dispensers 16. In other examples, monitor modules 8 may bebattery powered, and may include sleep and wake modes, other batteryconservation techniques, to conserve battery power. Monitor modules 8may communicate the dispenser data and/or entry event data, for example,to one or more local hospital computing device(s) 52, one or more remoteuser computing device(s) 54, or one or more server computing device(s)30 via network(s) 14.

System 10 may attempt to identify “hand hygiene opportunities” occurringthroughout facility 2. For example, each entry event may be defined as ahand hygiene opportunity. In other words, an entry event likelycorresponds to the detected HCW being in close proximity to a patient,meaning the HCW should perform a desired hygiene action, such as washingtheir hands upon entering the detected area. As another example,entry/presence of a HCW in a bathroom associated with the patient roommay be defined as a hand hygiene opportunity. As another example,entry/presence of a HCW near a patient bed may be defined as a handhygiene opportunity. As another example, leaving a bathroom, patientroom, or area around a patient bed may be defined as a hand hygieneopportunity. It shall be understood that system 10 may define otherrelevant hand hygiene opportunities for purposes of monitoringcompliance with hand hygiene procedures, and the disclosure is notlimited in this respect.

System 10 may further attempt to reconcile each hand hygiene opportunitywith a corresponding dispense event; that is, system 10 may determinewhether each person presented with a hand hygiene opportunity completedan associated dispense event. A hand hygiene opportunity and a dispenseevent correspond when the same person initiated both the hand hygieneopportunity and the dispense event. This occurs when the same HCWidentification information is associated with both the hand hygieneopportunity and the dispense event. This may also occur when the handhygiene opportunity and the dispense event are associated with non-HCWidentification information.

If a dispense event corresponding to a hand hygiene opportunity isdetected, a “compliant hand hygiene event” may be recorded. If a handhygiene opportunity is detected and no corresponding dispense event isdetected, system 10 may record a “non-compliant hand hygiene event.” Forexample, computing device(s) 52 may determine whether a dispense eventcorresponding to a hand hygiene opportunity is detected within a targettime frame. The target time frame may be determined based on areasonable amount of time for the identified person to completing thedesired action (such as a dispense event), but not be so long as toresult in a likelihood that the person associated with the hand hygieneopportunity comes into contact with the patient without completing thedesired action. Target time frames may be in the range of 5 to 30seconds, for example, but other time frames may be used and thedisclosure is not limited in this respect.

A remote computing device 30 may communicate with the local computingdevice(s) 52 via network(s) 14 to receive the data related to handhygiene compliance that is gathered and stored on local computingdevice(s) 52 at each hospital. Server computing device(s) 30 may alsosend commands, instructions, software updates, etc. for the hand hygienecompliance systems, dispensers, monitor modules, badges, and/or othersystem components at each hospital via network(s) 14. Server computer 30may receive data or otherwise communicate with the hand hygienecompliance systems at each of the facilities 2 on a periodic basis, inreal-time, upon request of server computer 30, or at any otherappropriate time.

Computing device(s) 30, 52, and/or 54 may include analysis and reportingapplications that analyze the hand hygiene data and generate reportsregarding hand hygiene compliance. For example, computing device(s) 30,52 and/or 54 may analyze the hand hygiene data to monitor hand hygienecompliance by individual HCW, type of HCW (e.g., nurses, doctors,environmental services (EVS), etc.), individual departments, type ofdepartment, individual hospital, type of hospital, across multiplehospitals or facilities, or by various other selected parameters.Computing device(s) 30, 52 and/or 54 may generate a variety of reportsto provide users local to each facility 2 or remote users 54 with bothqualitative and quantitative data regarding hand hygiene compliance attheir facility, to compare data over time to determine whetherimprovement with compliance with hand hygiene procedures has occurred,and/or to benchmark hand hygiene compliance at multiple hospitals orother healthcare facilities. For example, the computing device(s) 30,52, and/or 54 may analyze the hand hygiene data to monitor hand hygienecompliance by individual HCW, type of HCW (e.g., nurses, doctors,environmental services (EVS), etc.), individual departments, type ofdepartment, individual hospital, type of hospital, across multiplehospitals or facilities, or by various other selected parameters. Thesystem may generate a variety of reports to provide users local to eachhospital 22A-22N or remote users 54 with both qualitative andquantitative data regarding hand hygiene compliance at their hospital,to compare data over time to determine whether improvement has occurred,and/or to benchmark hand hygiene compliance at multiple hospitals orother healthcare facilities.

Badges 12 may be active, passive or semi-active tags. For example,badges 12 may periodically generate a tag signal containing, forexample, the HCW identification information, badge battery voltage,etc., at intervals such as 0.5 seconds, 1 second, 2 seconds, 5 secondsor other appropriate time interval. As another example, badges 12 maycontinuously transmit a tag signal containing the HCW identificationinformation. As another example, badges 12 may be passive tags whichgenerate a tag signal containing the HCW identification information wheninduced by an interrogation signal, such as a signal from a dispenser 16upon detection of a dispense event, or from monitor module 8 upondetection of an entry event, etc.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the electronic components of anexample battery-powered dispenser 16, an example monitor module 8, andan example badge 12. Dispenser 16 includes a controller 22, abattery/power supply 40, a voltage sensor 28, an activation/event sensor42, a dispenser motor 44, one or more indicators 48, and a wirelesstransceiver 26. Dispenser 16 may also include dispenser data storage 46for storing dispenser data received, generated, or used by dispenser 16.

Activation/event sensor 42 detects dispensation of a hand hygieneproduct. This is referred to as a “dispense event.” For example,activation sensor 42 may detect actuation of the dispenser by a user todispense hand hygiene product. Activation sensor 42 may include anelectronic switch that senses actuation of the dispenser by a user, suchas pushing or pulling of a button or bar to dispense hand hygieneproduct. In another example, activation sensor 42 may include aninfrared or other touchless sensor that detects presence of a user'shands or other actuation by a user. In another example, rather thandetecting actuation by a user, activation sensor 42 may detect theactual dispensing of the hand hygiene product.

Each time activation sensor 42 detects a dispense event, dispenser 16may, in some examples, attempt to identify the person responsible forinitiating the dispense event. To do this, dispenser 16 looks for asignal from a badge 12 within range of the dispenser transceiver 26.Dispenser 16 includes wireless transceiver 26 that provides for wirelesscommunication between a badge 12 and dispenser 16, and also for wirelesscommunication between dispenser 16 and monitor module 8. A signalreceived from a detected badge 12 contains HCW identificationinformation that uniquely identifies the person to whom the badge isassigned. In the case of activation by a non-HCW such as a patient,visitor, or any person not wearing a badge, the dispenser 16 will notdetect a badge within range. Dispenser 16 may record the dispense eventas a non-HCW dispense event if no ID badge data is detected.

Dispenser 16 may use one or more of several techniques to obtain the HCWidentification information from a target badge 12, and/or to ensure thatthe correct HCW identification information associated with the dispenseevent is isolated in the event that two or more badges respond. Thedispenser data, including the associated HCW identification informationand any other relevant dispense event information regarding the dispenseevent, such as dispenser id, product name, product type, time, date,etc., may be stored in dispenser data 46. Other dispenser statusinformation determined at the time of or upon completion of the dispenseevent, such as battery voltage, number of dispenses, out-of-productstatus, etc. may also be stored along with the dispense eventinformation as dispenser data 46. Voltage sensor 28 senses the voltageof dispenser battery/power supply 40. The voltage information sensed byvoltage sensor 28 may be included in the dispenser data for eachdispense event. The dispenser data is communicated to the monitor module8, which further forwards the voltage information to the hospitalcomputing devices 52 and/or the server computing device 30 for analysisand detection of a possible low battery condition of the dispenser 16.The dispenser data concerning the dispense event may be transmitted tomonitor module 8 via communication between, for example, wirelesstransceiver 26 and wireless transceiver 78. The dispenser data may betransmitted, for example, after each detected dispense event, atperiodic intervals, or upon request of monitor module 8.

In some examples, voltage sensor 28 may be implemented using an ADC(analog-to-digital) voltage sensing circuit that measures the analogvoltage of battery/power supply 40 and converts the voltage to a digitalvalue within a specified range. For example, for a 10-bitanalog-to-digital converter, the detected analog voltage may beconverted to a digital value in the range of 0-1023, where 0 isequivalent to 0.0 Volts and 1023 is equivalent to a maximum voltage. Itshall be understood that this resolution is an example only, and thatthe resolution of the ADC may be chosen such that the transition to alow-battery condition may be accurately detected.

Dispenser indicators 48 may include audible or visual status indicatorsfor indicating battery status, remaining product status, invitationmode, or other relevant dispenser status information. For example, anaudible and/or visual indicator may be activated when a low batterycondition is detected. As another example, an audible and/or visualindicator may be activated when the amount of hand hygiene product inthe dispenser is low or is depleted. In some examples, dispenserindicators 48 may, in response to detection of a HCW badge within thepatient room or other defined area, present an audible and/or visual“invitation” to initiate a hand hygiene dispense event. The “invitation”may serve to remind or alert a HCW to a so-called hand hygieneopportunity; that is, an opportunity to initiate a hand hygiene dispenseevent and thus help to increase compliance with hand hygiene protocolsfor the healthcare facility.

Example monitor module 8 includes a battery/power supply 70, amotion/event sensor 72, a wireless transceiver 78, and a controller 72.Monitor module 8 may further include hand hygiene data storage 76 thatstores data concerning hand hygiene events associated with that monitormodule and/or the associated patient room. Monitor module 8 may furtherinclude an analysis application 74 which, when executed by controller72, allows controller to detect entry of HCW into a patient room orother defined area, identify HCWs present within the associated patientroom or other defined area, identify hand hygiene opportunitiesassociated with the patient room, track hand hygiene events occurring ateach dispenser associated with the monitor module, and receive voltageinformation concerning the battery/power supply for each associateddispenser.

Each badge 12 includes a battery/power supply 80, a wireless transceiver88 (such as an RFID chip and antenna) and data storage 86 that storesand communicates HCW identification information when interrogated by thewireless transceiver 78 of monitor module 8 and/or wireless transceiver26 of dispenser 16. Alternatively, if the person entering the room isnot an HCW and therefore does not have an associated badge, the entryevent information and information identifying the person as a non-HCWmay also be stored in hand hygiene data 76.

Each time a HCW enters a room, monitor module 8 may count and store theentry event as a “hand hygiene opportunity.” In monitoring and trackinghand hygiene opportunities, the system is able to analyze the actualnumber of dispense events along with the number of hand hygieneopportunities so that compliance with hand hygiene protocols may bemonitored.

Upon receipt of the entry and identification information, monitor module8 may send a “wake-up” signal to dispensers 16. This wake-up signal maycause dispensers 16 to enter an “invitation mode”, in which thedispenser activates one or more visual or audible indicators whosepurpose is to remind the person entering the room of a hand hygieneopportunity. In some examples, a dispenser receives the wake-up signaldirectly from monitor module 8. In another example, monitor module 8 maysend a “reminder” signal to the badge 12, which may cause the badge toactivate one or more visual or audible indicators on the badge itself toremind the HCW entering the room of a hand hygiene opportunity.

Monitor module 8 receives entry event data from motion sensor 72,receives dispenser data from each of dispensers 16 in the associatedroom, and stores the entry event data and dispense event data in handhygiene data storage 76. The data for each entry or dispense event mayalso include time and date stamps, HCW id information, room/areaidentifier, dispenser battery voltage readings, and any other datarelevant to monitoring and analysis of hand hygiene compliance. In someexamples, monitor module 8 is battery powered and may normally be in a“sleep” mode until detection of an entry event by motion sensor 72causes monitor module 8 to “wake up.” In other examples, monitor module8 is AC powered and constantly turned ON and ready to receiveinformation from motion sensor 72 and dispensers 16. As described abovewith respect to FIG. 1, each monitor module 8 may communicate with alocal hospital computer 52 over one or more networks 14.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example environment in whichthe battery condition detection techniques of the present disclosure maybe used. One or more hospitals or other healthcare facilities 2A-2N eachinclude a plurality of associated dispensers, monitor modules, and HCWbadges 12 as shown in FIG. 1. The computing devices at each of thehealthcare facilities 2A-2N are coupled via network(s) 14 to servercomputing device(s) 30. Server computing device(s) 30 is coupled to alocal server computer at each of the healthcare facilities 2A-2N vianetwork(s) 14 to receive data related to hand hygiene compliance that isgathered and stored on local storage media at each hospital. Servercomputing device(s) 30 may also send commands, instructions, softwareupdates, etc. to each hospital computing device, dispensers, monitormodules, badges, and/or other system components via network(s) 14.Server computing device(s) 30 may receive data or otherwise communicatewith the healthcare facilities on a periodic basis, in real-time, uponrequest of server computer 30, or at any other appropriate time.

The data received from each of the healthcare facilities 2A-2N, as wellas other data associated with the operation of the hand hygienecompliance system, may be stored on a database 60. Database 60 maystore, for example, hospital data 61A-61N associated with each of thehealthcare facilities 2A-2N, respectively; hand hygiene data 62A-62Nassociated with each of the healthcare facilities 2A-2N, respectively;low battery threshold data 64A-64N associated with each of thehealthcare facilities 2A-2N, respectively; health care worker data66A-66N associated with each of the healthcare facilities 2A-2N,respectively; and reports 68A-68N associated with each of the healthcarefacilities 2A-2N, respectively.

Hospital data 61A-61N may include data that uniquely identifies or isassociated with the respective hospital or other healthcare facility2A-2N. As such, hospital data 61A-61N may include, for example, hospitalidentification information, employee information, managementinformation, accounting information, business information, pricinginformation, information concerning those persons or entities authorizedto access the reports generated by the hand hygiene compliance system,date and time stamps, caregiver identification, visitor identificationand additional information relating to other aspects of the corporationor operation and other information specific to each individualhealthcare facility 2A-2N. Hospital data 61A-61N may further include alist of patient room(s) or other defined area(s) within the hospital;monitor module ids; dispenser ids; HCW ids; associations between handhygiene dispensers, monitor modules, and patient rooms or other definedarea; and any other relevant data concerning the respective healthcarefacility 2A-2N.

Hand hygiene data 62A-62N may include, for example, any informationassociated with operation of the hand hygiene product dispensers,including associated entry event information detected by the monitormodules in the respective healthcare facility 2A-2N. For example, handhygiene data 62A-62N may include, without limitation, one or more of thefollowing data types: dispenser id; dispenser type; dispensed productname; dispensed product type (e.g., sanitizer, soap, lotion,alcohol-based hand hygiene product, etc.); dispensed product form(liquid, foam, gel, powder, pelleted, etc.); dispensed product amounts(by volume, weight, or other measure); dispensing times, dates, andsequences; detected healthcare worker ids linked to specific dispensingevents; dispenser battery voltage information; and any other informationoriginating at the dispenser site, whether detected by a dispenser, by amonitor module, by a dispenser communication module, a badge, or by anassociated device.

Low battery threshold data 64A-64N may include, for example, informationconcerning one or more low battery thresholds associated with one ormore hand hygiene product dispensers. Each low battery threshold maycorrespond to one or more of the following features or characteristics:dispenser types, battery type, dispensed product names, dispensedproduct types (sanitizer, soap, lotion, alcohol-based hand hygieneproduct, etc.), dispensed product forms (liquid, foam, gel, powder,pelleted, etc.), or any other feature or characteristic that may affectthe low battery threshold for one or more dispensers. In some examples,the low battery thresholds may be empirically determined based onmeasurements made on different types of dispensers, different types ofbatteries, different types of products, different forms of products, orother feature or characteristic.

Healthcare worker (HCW) data 66A-66N may include, for example,information concerning employees of the respective healthcare facility2A-2N. For example, HCW data 66A-66N may include, without limitation,HCW name, employee id number and/or other identification information;position (physician, nurse, physician assistant, physical therapist,EVS, etc.); work schedule; and other HCW related information for thehealthcare workers in the respective healthcare facility 2A-2N.

Server computing device(s) 30 includes an analysis application 32 thatmay analyze the data received from each of healthcare facilities 2A-2Nand stores the results for each healthcare facility 2A-2N in thedatabase 60. Analysis application 32 may analyze the hospital data61A-61N, hand hygiene data 62A-62N, low battery threshold data 64A-64N,and HCW data 66A-66N, either alone or in various combinations with eachother to monitor hand hygiene compliance in a healthcare facility orother facility in which monitoring of hand hygiene compliance may bedesired. For purposes of the present disclosure, analysis application 32may further analyze the dispenser voltage information received for oneor more of the dispensers 16 along with low battery threshold data64A-64N to detect low battery conditions in one or more dispensers 16.The analysis application may further analyze the low battery thresholddata and the low battery information in the hand hygiene data 62A-62N todetermine whether any of the low battery thresholds need to be revisedor updated. Alternatively, or in addition, analysis application 32 mayfurther analyze the dispenser voltage information received for one ormore of the dispensers 16 along with low battery threshold data 64A-64Nto identify a dispenser type, a dispensed product type or form, abattery type, a number of dispenses remaining, a battery replacementevent, etc.

A reporting application 34 generates a variety of reports that presentthe analyzed data for use by the person(s) responsible for overseeinghand hygiene compliance at each healthcare facility 2A-2N. Reportingapplication 34 may generate a variety of reports to provide users localto each healthcare facility 2A-2N or remote users 54 with bothqualitative and quantitative data regarding hand hygiene compliance attheir hospital, and/or battery-related conditions of any dispensers 16in the healthcare facility.

Reports 68A-68N associated with each healthcare facility 2A-2N,respectively, may be stored in database 60. Reports 68A-68N may beaccessed by users local to each healthcare facility 2A-2N or by remoteusers 54 over one or more network(s) 14. One or more of the reports68A-68N may be downloaded and stored on a local hospital computer 52,remote user computing device(s) 54, other authorized computing device,printed out in hard copy or further communicated to others as desired.

In some examples, local hospital computing device 52 may also store theabove-described hand hygiene data (e.g., hospital data, dispenser data,motion detector data, HCW data, and/or coordinator data) associated withthat hospital. Hospital computing device 52 may also include localanalysis and reporting applications such as those described above withrespect to analysis and reporting applications 32 and 34. In that case,reports associated with that particular hospital may be generated andviewed locally, if desired. In another example, all analysis andreporting functions are carried out remotely at server computer 30, andreports may be viewed, downloaded or otherwise obtained remotely. Inother examples, some healthcare facilities 2A-2N may include localstorage and/or analysis and reporting functions while other healthcarefacilities 2A-2N rely on remote storage and/or analysis and reporting.Thus, although the general case of data being stored at the localhospital computing device 52 and analysis/reporting being carried out bythe server computing device 30 is described herein, it shall beunderstood that these storage, analysis and reporting functions may alsobe carried out locally or at some other location, and that thedisclosure is not limited in this respect.

Reporting application 34 may generate a variety of reports based on thehand hygiene data from one or more rooms with in a healthcare facilityor from multiple healthcare facilities. These reports may include, forexample, detailed analysis and reporting on key metrics, including handhygiene compliance by individual HCW, type of HCW (nurses, doctors, EVS,etc.), room, department, type of department, individual hospital, acrossmultiple hospitals, etc. The reports may benchmark current hand hygienepractices across the entire database, across hospitals or otherhealthcare facilities. The reports may include trending of various keymetrics over time, identify particular problem areas (e.g., individualHCW or types of HCW having unsatisfactory hand hygiene compliance)provide actionable improvement plans and assess current practicesrelative to best hand hygiene practices.

Other reports that may be generated may include, for example, summaryreports for an entire hospital or other healthcare facility; the totalnumber of dispense events per dispenser over a defined period of time;the total compliance percent for all HCWs by patient room or otherdefined area, by department, by hospital, or across multiple hospitalsor facilities; baseline compliance thresholds by individual HCW, type ofHCW, by department, by hospital, or multiple hospitals or facilities;reports comparing highest, lowest and/or average percentage complianceby any of these breakdowns; reports comparing highest, lowest and/oraverage number of dispense events per dispenser or per HCW; trendingdata showing past, present and projected future hand hygiene compliance.The reports may indicate whether the number of dispense events perdispenser, per room, per individual HCW, per HCW type, per department,per hospital etc. is within acceptable limits and whether it metspecified targets for dispense events for each of these parameters.

Reporting application 34 may permit a user to select a particular format(text, graphs, tables, combinations thereof, etc.); select by data type(dispenser data, hospital data, motion detector data, HCW data,coordinator data, etc.); select by date; select by individual HCW typeof HCW, department, hospital or multiple hospitals or facilities; selectby percent compliance; select for example, by highest, lowest or averagecompliance; or to create and generate reports based on nearly any datacollected and stored by hand hygiene compliance system.

The reports may highlight particular problems areas where hand hygienecompliance thresholds are not being met. For example, the reports mayidentify certain individual HCWs, types of HCWs, departments orhospitals having hand hygiene compliance below a specified threshold.This information can help to identify where additional training orcorrective action may be necessary.

The reports may also provide a summary of recommended next steps thatthe hospital may take to improve their hand hygiene compliance resultsin the future. For example, suggested next steps may be given forcontinuous improvement and education directed toward individual HCWs ortypes of HCWs, operational processes, hand hygiene outcome efficiency,etc.

For purposes of the present disclosure, reporting application 34 mayfurther generate a low battery condition message or alert for one ormore dispensers, reports summarizing battery usage or voltage levelsover time (e.g., such as predicted battery usage versus actual batteryusage), battery change data (dates, frequency, etc.), battery cost,voltage information received for each dispenser over time, batteryvoltage information by product name, product type, or dispenser type,etc. The battery condition information may be reported by dispenser, bypatient room, by facility, etc.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example process (200) by which acomputing device, such as computing devices 30, 52, and/or 54 executingan analysis application 34 such as that shown in FIG. 3, may analyzevoltage information received for a battery-powered dispenser and detecta low battery condition. In general, the computing device may receivevoltage information associated with the actual dispenser batteryvoltage. To detect a low battery condition, the system described hereinmay compare the received voltage information with a pre-defined “lowbattery threshold.” Voltage information that that satisfies the lowbattery threshold may qualify as a “low battery condition.”

The system may generate a low battery message to alert hospitalpersonnel of a potential low battery condition. The low batterycondition message may include dispenser identifying information, patientroom/area information, current dispenser battery voltage information,the number of dispenses remaining at the current battery voltage level,recommended battery servicing intervals, the dispensed product name ortype, current and/or replacement battery information (such as batterytype, number of batteries, battery voltage, brand, etc.), and/or anyother relevant information concerning the potential low batterycondition.

The low battery condition message may be sent to one or more ofcomputing devices 30, 52, or 54. The low battery condition message maybe in the form of an electronic mail (email) message, voicemail message,text message, alert, notification, audible or visual indicator, or othermeans of electronic communication. Alternatively, or in addition, thelow battery message may be included in a report generated by the system,such as in a field of a spreadsheet, indicated on a graph, printed intext, etc. The alert may be audible, visual, or both. Low battery alertsmay be generated and sent to a user at the time of detection, and/or lowbattery alerts for a period of time may be aggregated into a singlereport or notification. For example, a daily or weekly report may begenerated including all potential low battery conditions detected forthat time period. The low battery threshold may be set to account forthe length of time between low battery alert messages. Alternatively, orin addition, the system may activate one or more of indicators 48 ondispenser 16 (see FIG. 2) to indicate a low battery condition.

The low battery threshold may vary depending on one or more factors. Forexample, certain factors associated with the particular dispenser and/orthe product dispensed may affect the amount of energy (and thus theamount of battery voltage) required to initiate and/or complete adispense event. These factors may include, but are not limited to, thedispenser type (touch-free, type of pump, etc.), dispensed productnames, dispensed product types (sanitizer, soap, lotion, alcohol-basedhand hygiene product, etc.), dispensed product forms (liquid, foam, gel,powder, pelleted, etc.), battery type, or any other factor that mayaffect the amount of energy required to initiate and/or complete adispense event, and that thus may affect the low battery threshold for aparticular dispenser.

For example, dispensing of a foam may require more energy (and hencerequire a larger battery voltage remaining and/or result in a relativelylarger drain in battery voltage) than dispensing of a gel or a liquid.As a result, the low battery threshold when dispensing a foam may needto be relatively higher than the low battery threshold for the samedispenser when dispensing a gel or a liquid. As another example, thetype of dispenser (e.g., the mechanics of the pump design, the type ofmotor and/or the touch free sensor, etc.) may also affect the amount ofenergy required to perform a dispense. As a result, certain types ofdispensers may require relatively higher or lower low battery thresholdsthan other types of dispensers. Factors may also include the dispensedproduct name, the dispensed product type, the dispensed product form, orany other feature or characteristic that affects the amount of energyrequired to dispense the product. Additional factors may includedispenser to dispenser variation, product to product variation, bottleto bottle variation, change of product type associated with a dispenser,any transient voltage drop due to a high density of dispenses, batteryvoltage change with temperature, etc.

Referring again to FIG. 4, the dispenser data received from eachdispenser includes battery voltage information that is correlated to theactual battery voltage of the dispenser. In the example describedherein, the voltage information is measured by a voltage sensingcircuit, such as an ADC (analog-to-digital) voltage sensing circuit thatmeasures the analog voltage of battery/power supply and converts thevoltage to a digital value within a specified range. This digital valueis thus correlated to the actual analog battery voltage. For example,for a 10-bit analog-to-digital converter, the detected analog voltagemay be converted to a digital value in the range of 0-1023, where 0 isequivalent to 0.0 Volts and 1023 is equivalent to a maximum voltagesupplied by the battery/batteries used in the relevant dispenser. Itshall be understood that this resolution is an example only, and thatthe resolution of the ADC may be chosen such that the transition to alow-battery condition may be accurately detected.

At some point after the dispenser data is communicated from thedispenser, a computing device (such as any of computing device(s) 30,52, or 54, or other appropriate computing device(s)) receives thebattery voltage information (202). For example, the computing device mayreceive a digital indication correlated to the analog battery voltage.The computing device may receive the battery voltage information aftercompletion of each dispense event, at periodic intervals (e.g., once perhour, one per day, etc.), upon request of the computing device, or atany other time.

As described above, the low battery threshold may vary depending upon avariety of factors associated with the dispense, such as they type ofdispenser, the type or form of product dispensed, etc. The computingdevice determines one or more factors associated with the dispense, suchas the dispenser type (204), the product type/name (206) or otherfactor(s), that may affect the low battery threshold. The relevantfactors (dispenser type, product type, product name, etc.) may bedetermined in several ways. For example, the dispenser type and/orproduct type/name/form may be stored at or with respect to eachdispenser, and may be included in the dispenser data communicated by thedispenser for each dispense event, along with the dispense eventinformation and the battery voltage information. The dispenser typeand/or product name/type may also be determined by looking up thedispenser id in a lookup table or other data structure (e.g., such adata structure may be included in hospital data 61A-61N in data store60) and extracting the relevant dispenser type and/or productname/type/form from the corresponding entries in the data store.

The computing device identifies the appropriate low battery thresholdbased on the one or more factors (208). For example, one or more lowbattery threshold(s) may be empirically determined and stored in thedata store 60 as low battery threshold data 64A-64N (see FIG. 3).

The computing device analyzes the received voltage information todetermine whether it satisfies the low battery threshold (210). If thereceived voltage information does not satisfy the low battery threshold,the battery or batteries in the dispenser are determined to havesufficient voltage remaining to power additional dispenser activations.The results of the analysis may be stored in a data base (e.g., datastore 60 of FIG. 3).

If the received voltage information satisfies the low battery threshold(210), the computing device detects a low battery condition (212). Thecomputing device generates a low battery message or alert (214).Generating the low battery message or alert may include storinginformation related to the low battery condition and/or transmitting thelow battery alert or condition to one or more of a user computingdevice(s) or hospital computing device(s). Alternatively, or inaddition, generating the low battery message or alert may includeactivating one or more of audible and/or visual indicators on theassociated dispenser to indicate a low battery condition.

One or more low battery thresholds 64A-64N (see FIG. 3) may beempirically determined based on test measurements gathered from aplurality of dispensers during dispensation of different types and/orforms of hand hygiene products. FIG. 5A is a graph 250 illustrating anexample discharge profile 252 for a dispenser powered with 3 Duracell® Dbatteries under a constant load of 200Ω. This is equivalent to about 5dispenses a minute in this example. In the example of FIG. 5A, thevoltage measurements were obtained in the intervals between dispenseevents as opposed to during a dispense event. It should be noted thatthe absolute scale of the axis is not as important as the shape of thecurve. These values will be used in subsequent computations.

In this example, when voltage is measured as described, the testsindicate that the low voltage threshold can range from 3.9V to 3.6V,depending upon the type of dispenser and the type of product dispensed.When deciding on a low battery threshold, there is a balance betweenensuring that batteries are replaced before a low battery conditionoccurs, thus reducing the possibility that a dispenser is left withinsufficient battery life to power a dispense event, and reducing thefrequency of battery replacement so as to get as many dispenses out ofeach battery as possible, thus saving time and cost associated withreplacing batteries before they are fully discharged (discharged in thesense that they do not have sufficient battery voltage remaining topower another dispense).

In some examples, a global low battery threshold may be used that coversall possible combinations of dispensers and dispensed product types. Toensure that a dispenser has sufficient battery under all possibleconditions, such a global low battery threshold may be set at thehighest low battery threshold level empirically determined for alltested combinations. This is to avoid the case where a dispenser hasinsufficient battery voltage to power a dispense prior to detection of alow battery condition and generation of a low battery condition warning.In the example of FIG. 5A, an empirically determined global low batterythreshold of 3.9 Volts is shown for the combination of dispensers andproducts tested. It shall be understood that the numerical values ofFIG. 5A are set forth for example purposes only, and that the numericalvalues for both the x and y-axes, and also the global low batterythreshold, may vary depending upon the dispenser type and/or dispensedproduct types or other factors.

In some examples, dispensers or products with a relatively lower lowbattery threshold (that is, dispensers or products that do not requireas much remaining battery voltage to power a dispense), a low batterycondition may be signaled too early if a global low battery threshold isused. In other words, in such a case, a relatively higher global lowbattery threshold may cause a low battery condition to be noted eventhough the batteries still contain sufficient voltage to power dispenseevents for lower energy requiring products (such as relatively lowerviscosity liquids, which may generally require relatively less energy topower a dispense than relatively higher viscosity liquids, gels, orfoams, for example). In the example of FIG. 5A, a relatively lower lowbattery threshold of 3.6 Volts was empirically determined to be anappropriate low battery threshold for these types of dispensers tested.

FIG. 6 is a graph 260 illustrating example battery usage over a matrixof use conditions for an example hand hygiene product dispenser. Thex-axis shows various example low battery threshold voltages and they-axis shows the percentage of battery used at each low batterythreshold voltage. The graph of FIG. 6 may be used to run multiple lowbattery voltage threshold scenarios. This may be illustrated by thefollowing example:

(1) Assume a product that would ideally indicate a low battery conditionat 3.7V.

(2) However, assume a low battery threshold will be set at 3.8V in thisexample.

The percent battery utilization at a low battery threshold at 3.8V maybe determined as follows:

(1) Identify the curve associated with a low battery threshold of 3.8V.This curve may be identified as the one that intersects x=3.8 at thevalue y=100 as indicated by reference numeral 262.

(2) Determine where this curve intersects x=3.7V.

(3) The y-axis value associated with this point corresponds to thepercent battery utilization at the selected low battery threshold. Forpurposes of this example, full utilization is defined as the batterybeing used to 3.7V. In this example where the low battery threshold is3.8V, the percent utilization when a low battery condition will beindicated is approximately 89%.

The y scale (battery utilization in percent) may be calculated asfollows:

$100 \times \frac{T_{implemented}}{T_{ideal}}$

Where

T_(implemented)=the time to reach the implemented low battery threshold,and

T_(ideal)=the time to reach the ideal low battery threshold.

In some examples, the dispenser low battery threshold takes into accountnoise in the voltage reading. For example, the amount of noise presentin the dispenser voltage reading will affect how closely the voltagereading correlates with the actual battery voltage. This noise may thusfurther influence what the low battery threshold should be.

For example, let T_(v) be the low battery voltage threshold level atwhich a low battery notification should occur. To satisfy thiscondition, low battery notifications may be triggered at

T_(v)+v_(noise).

Without the addition of the v_(noise) term, a dispenser could be runningat a lower voltage than T_(v) without triggering a low batterynotification. It follows that the earliest a dispenser would cross theT_(v)+v_(noise) threshold occurs when voltage is read with a noise levelof −v_(noise). This would be a worst case scenario. The best case forcrossing the T_(v)+v_(noise) threshold occurs when the measured voltagewith a noise level of +v_(noise). In this case the expected batteryusage would be 100%.

Low battery thresholds, discharge profiles such as that shown in FIG. 5,and Usage Graphs such as that shown in FIG. 6 may be empiricallydetermined for one or more dispenser types and/or one or more dispensedproduct types, forms or names. For example, low battery threshold data64A-64B (FIG. 3) may store one or more low battery thresholds, eachcorresponding to a dispenser type and/or dispensed product type, form orname. The low battery threshold may be expressed as an absolute voltage,a percentage of voltage discharged or remaining, or other method ofmeasuring a battery voltage. As another example, low battery thresholddata 64A-64B may store one or more discharge profiles, such as thatshown in FIG. 5, each corresponding to a dispenser type and/or dispensedproduct type, form or name. As another example, low battery thresholddata 64A-64B may store one or more usage graphs, such as that shown inFIG. 6, each corresponding to a dispenser type and/or dispensed producttype, form or name.

Table 1 shows example low battery thresholds for different combinationsof hypothetical dispenser types (in rows) and hypothetical dispensedproduct names (columns). This Table may stored as, for example, lowbattery threshold data 64A-64N as shown in FIG. 3. The entries in eachcell correspond to the low battery threshold empirically determined forthat combination of dispenser type and dispensed product name. Forexample, for a Type 1 Touch Free Dispenser dispensing a product having aproduct name, “Waterless Hand Sanitizer,” the example low batterythreshold is 3.7 Volts. As another example, for a Type-3 Touch FreeDispenser dispensing a product having the product name, “EnrichedFoaming Hand Soap,” the example low battery threshold is 3.9 Volts.

Using the example Low Battery Thresholds of Table 1, to detect whetheror not a low battery condition is present for a Touch Free Type-3dispenser that is dispensing Foaming Hand Sanitizer, the sensed batteryvoltage as detected by the dispenser would be compared to thecorresponding low battery threshold voltage of 3.9 Volts. If the sensedbattery voltage was less than (or equal to) 3.9 Volts, the system wouldgenerate a low battery condition alert or message.

TABLE 1 Low Battery Thresholds (Volts) Waterless Express FoamingSensitive Enriched Dispenser Hand Hand Hand Moisturizing Skin FoamingRevitalizing Type Sanitizer Sanitizer Sanitizer Hand Soap Hand Soap HandSoap Skin Lotion Touch 3.7 3.6 3.9 3.6 3.6 3.9 3.7 Free Type-1 Touch 3.83.6 3.9 3.7 3.7 3.9 3.7 Free Type-2 Touch 3.8 3.6 3.9 3.7 3.7 3.9 3.7Free Type-3

Table 2 shows example low battery thresholds for different combinationsof dispenser types (in rows) and dispensed product types/forms(columns). This Table may stored as, for example, part of low batterythreshold data 64A-64N as shown in FIG. 3. The entries in each cellcorrespond to the low battery threshold empirically determined for thatcombination of dispenser type and dispensed product type/form. Forexample, for a Type 1 Touch Free Dispenser dispensing a product of typeSanitizer-Foam, the example low battery threshold is 3.9 Volts. Asanother example, for a Type-2 Touch Free Dispenser dispensing of typeLotion, the example low battery threshold is 3.7 Volts.

Using the example Low Battery Thresholds of Table 2, the sensed batteryvoltage received from a Touch Free Type-3 dispenser that is dispensing agel hand soap would be compared to the corresponding low batterythreshold voltage of 3.7 Volts. If the sensed battery voltage was lessthan (or equal to) 3.7 Volts, the system would generate a low batterycondition alert or message.

TABLE 2 Low Battery Thresholds (Volts) Dispenser Sanitizer- Sanitizer-Sanitizer- Hand Soap- Hand Soap- Hand Soap- Type Gel Liquid Foam GelLiquid Foam Lotion Touch 3.7 3.6 3.9 3.6 3.6 3.9 3.7 Free Type-1 Touch3.8 3.6 3.9 3.7 3.7 3.9 3.7 Free Type-2 Touch 3.8 3.6 3.9 3.7 3.7 3.93.7 Free Type-3

Table 3 shows example low battery thresholds for different dispensertypes. In this example, low battery thresholds are established for eachdispenser type, regardless of what product is being dispensed. If adispenser type is able to dispense both foams and gels, for example, thelow battery threshold for that dispenser may need to be set at arelatively higher threshold voltage corresponding to the foam product(as compared to the possibly relatively lower threshold voltagecorresponding to the gel product) to ensure that a low battery conditionis indicated before the battery voltage remaining falls too low to powerany further foam product dispenses. Depending upon the dispenser and theproducts dispensed, this assignment of low battery thresholds may resultin a somewhat premature detection of a low battery condition in the casewhere the same dispenser is dispensing a gel.

This Table may stored as, for example, part of low battery thresholddata 64A-64N as shown in FIG. 3. Each row corresponds to a dispensertype and the associated low battery threshold. For example, for aDispenser Type-1, the example low battery threshold is 3.7 Volts. For aDispenser Type-3, the example low battery threshold is also 3.7 Volts,for a Dispenser Type-2 the example low battery threshold is also 3.6Volts, and for a Dispenser Type-7 the example low battery threshold is3.9 Volts. If the sensed battery voltage is less than the Low BatteryThreshold indicated in Table 3, the system would generate a low batterycondition alert or message.

TABLE 3 Discharge Profiles - Dispenser/Product Types Dispenser Type LowBattery Threshold (Volts) Dispenser Type-1 3.7 Dispenser Type -2 3.6Dispenser Type -3 3.7 Dispenser Type -4 3.6 Dispenser Type -5 3.8Dispenser Type -6 3.7 Dispenser Type -7 3.9

The battery condition detection techniques described herein may also beused in the detection of other types of dispenser information. Forexample, if the system does not have the dispenser type informationand/or the dispensed product type/name/form information stored for oneor more dispensers in a healthcare facility, analysis of the voltageprofile received for those dispensers may be permit identification ofthe dispenser type and/or the dispensed product type. For example,certain “small” dispensers may be powered using 3 “C” batteries, whilecertain “large” dispensers may be powered using 3 “D” batteries. Both Cand D batteries are listed at 1.5 Volts; however, D batteries containmore energy than C batteries, so the voltage drop per dispense in a handhygiene product dispenser may be less. Thus, it may be possible todetermine the dispenser type (e.g., large or small) based on how thereceived voltage decreases over time. This information may also allowthe system to correlate voltage readings with specific sets ofbatteries. Reports of the voltage usage over time would give visibilityinto how the field uses the dispensers.

FIG. 5B is a graph 270 of Dispenser Voltage versus Time for an exampledischarge profile 272 for a first type of hand hygiene dispenser poweredby 3 D batteries and an example discharge profile 274 for a second typeof hand hygiene dispenser powered by 3 C batteries. The voltageinformation from the discharge profiles 272, 274 may be used to identifythe type of hand hygiene product dispenser. For example, the voltageinformation from a dispenser of an unknown type received over a periodof time (or over a predetermined number of dispense events) may becompared to the empirically determined voltage information for one ormore dispenser types to determine the dispenser type based on thevoltage information received from the dispenser. For example, in FIG.5B, the derivative of the voltage curve 274 (e.g., the rate at which thevoltage decreases over time) empirically determined for dispenserspowered by C batteries is relatively greater than the derivative of thevoltage curve 272 empirically determined for dispensers powered by Dbatteries. In one example, discharge rates (e.g., the derivatives) ofthe voltage information from a dispenser received over time may beaveraged and compared to empirically determined voltage discharge rateinformation for one or more dispenser types. The dispenser may beidentified as the type of dispenser associated with the empiricallydetermined voltage discharge information that most closely matches thatmeasured voltage discharge rate information received from the dispenser.For example, if the voltage discharge rate information received from adispenser of an unknown type more closely matches curve 274 rather thancurve 272, the dispenser may be identified as a dispenser powered bybattery type C.

FIG. 5C is a graph 280 of Dispenser Voltage versus Number of Dispensesfor an example discharge profile 282 for a first (“Large”) type of handhygiene dispenser and an example discharge profile 284 for a second(“Small”) type of hand hygiene dispenser. As described above withrespect to FIG. 5B, the voltage information from the discharge profiles282, 284 may be used to identify the type of hand hygiene productdispenser. For example, the voltage information from a dispenser of anunknown type received over a predetermined number of dispense events (orover a predetermined period of time) may be compared to the empiricallydetermined voltage information for one or more dispenser types todetermine the dispenser type based on the voltage information receivedfrom the dispenser. For example, in FIG. 5C, the derivative of thevoltage curve 284 (e.g., the rate at which the voltage decreases overtime) empirically determined for “Small” type dispensers is relativelygreater than the derivative of the voltage curve 282 empiricallydetermined for “Large” type dispensers. In one example, discharge rates(e.g., the derivatives) of the voltage information from a dispenserreceived over time may be averaged and compared to empiricallydetermined voltage discharge rate information for one or more dispensertypes. The dispenser may be identified as the type of dispenserassociated with the empirically determined voltage discharge informationthat most closely matches that measured voltage discharge rateinformation received from the dispenser. For example, if the voltagedischarge rate information received from a dispenser of an unknown typemore closely matches curve 284 rather than curve 282, the dispenser maybe identified as a “Small” type dispenser.

Referring again to FIG. 5A, analysis of a discharge profile for a handhygiene product dispenser may further permit the system to determine thenumber of dispenses remaining before the battery will encounter a lowbattery condition. For example, for a known discharge profile, such asdischarge profile 252, the voltage at any particular location on thedischarge profile may be empirically determined, based on data receivedfrom one or more dispensers of the same type, to have a correspondingnumber of dispenses remaining before the battery voltage reached thedefined low battery condition. In FIG. 5, for example, if the lowbattery threshold is 3.9 Volts, the Voltage of 4.1 Volts sensed on Day 8may be empirically determined to correspond to a first number ofdispenses remaining. If the low battery threshold is 3.6 Volts, theVoltage of 4.1 Volts sensed on Day 8 may be empirically determined tocorrespond to a second number of dispenses remaining. The second numberof dispenses remaining in this example would relatively greater than thefirst number of dispenses remaining. Similarly, the Voltage at any pointalong the discharge profile 252 may be empirically determined tocorrespond to a corresponding number of dispenses remaining. The numberof dispenses remaining data may be saved along with the dispense eventrecord, and included in one or more reports. The number of dispensesremaining may also be analyzed and compared to previously obtained datafor that dispenser and/or for other dispensers to provide insight intodispenser usage and/or detect or diagnose dispenser problems.

In addition, the number of dispenses remaining may be individuallydetermined for a dispenser by comparing historical voltage informationfor the dispenser with the current voltage information for thedispenser. For example, for a particular dispenser, the historicalnumber of dispenses that occurred over a voltage drop could be used topredict the number of dispenses remaining for the same voltage drop forthat dispenser. This could be used to compensate for the powerconsumption of a particular dispenser and/or variations in powerconsumption between dispensers of the same type.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example process (300) by which acomputing device may determine a number of dispenses remaining based onbattery voltage information received from a hand hygiene productdispenser. A computing device (such as hospital computing device(s) 54,server computing device(s) 52, or other appropriate computing device(s))receives battery voltage information that is correlated to the actualbattery voltage of a dispenser (302). For example, the computing devicemay receive a digital indication correlated to the analog batteryvoltage. The computing device may receive the battery voltageinformation after each dispenser activation, at periodic intervals(e.g., once per hour, one per day, etc.), upon request of the computingdevice, or at any other time.

The computing device determines one or more factors associated with thedispense, such as the dispenser type (304), the product type (306) orother factor(s), that may affect the low battery threshold. The relevantfactors (dispenser type, product type, product name, etc.) may bedetermined in several ways. For example, the dispenser type and/orproduct type/name/form may be stored in the dispenser data on eachdispenser, and may be included in the dispenser data communicated by thedispenser for each dispense event, along with the dispense eventinformation and the battery voltage information. The dispenser typeand/or product type may also be determined by looking up the dispenserid in a lookup table or other data store (e.g., hospital data 61A-61N indata store 60) and extracting the relevant dispenser type and/or productname/type/form from the corresponding entries in the data store.

The computing device may analyze the received voltage information overtime to identify the battery usage characteristics (308). For example,the received voltage information may be analyzed along with anempirically determined battery usage graph associated with the dispenserand/or the dispensed product (such as that shown in FIG. 5 or 6) todetermine the percentage of battery remaining and/or the absolutevoltage as compared to the low voltage threshold. The percentage ofbattery remaining and/or the absolute voltage may be further correlatedto a number of dispenses remaining. In another example, the number ofdispenses remaining correlated to given battery voltages or percentageof battery remaining may be empirically determined and stored in, forexample, low battery threshold data 64A-64N of data store 60. In eithercase, the computing device may determine the number of dispensesremaining based on the received current battery voltage information(310). Similarly, in other examples, the computing device may estimatethe amount of time remaining before a low battery condition will occur,based on the received battery voltage information and based on a numberof dispenser activations estimated to occur within a defined period oftime. The number of dispenser activations may be estimated based on pastusage of the dispenser, on past usage of multiple dispensers, on anaverage of dispenser usage over time, etc.

The computing device may further generate a battery status messageindicating one or more of the absolute battery voltage, the number ofdispenses remaining, the estimated amount of time before a low batterycondition may be detected, etc. (312).

As another example of the voltage condition detection techniques of thepresent disclosure, analysis of the voltage profile received for adispenser may allow a system to identify when a dispenser's batterieshave been changed out (removed and/or replaced). FIG. 11 is a graphillustrating an example discharge profile 370 for a hand hygiene productdispenser in which a battery was replaced. In the example of FIG. 11,the voltage measurements were obtained in the intervals between dispenseevents as opposed to during a dispense event. It should be noted thatthe absolute scale of the axis is not necessarily to scale. In thisexample, analysis of the discharge profile 370 indicates that thevoltage gradually drops off from a peak of about 4.8 Volts on Day 0 toabout 3.8 Volts on Day 20. At some point in time during Day 21, novoltage information is received for a period of time indicated byreference numeral 376. This is indicative of removal of the battery orbatteries, as if the dispenser has no power it is not operational andwill not transmit any voltage information for the period of time duringwhich the batteries are removed. Curve 374 indicates an abrupt voltageincrease 372 (as compared to the previous voltage reading of about 3.8Volts) which signifies the end of the period of time 376. The subsequentdata indicates that the voltage gradually drops off again from Day 21 toDay 34, as indicated by reference numeral 374. The abrupt voltageincrease 372 may be due to a battery replacement event, which caused thesensed dispenser battery voltage detected by, for example, voltagesensor 28 (see FIG. 2) to detect the relatively higher voltage of a newbattery (4.8 Volts in this example) installed into the dispenser on Day21 as compared to the relatively more depleted battery voltage (3.8Volts in this example) of the battery that was in use from day 0 to Day20.

In some examples, the system may be configured to detect a batteryreplacement event if the voltage information received from the dispenserincludes a voltage increase having a predefined change in amplitude. Thepredefined change in amplitude may depend in part upon the dispensertype, as different dispenser types may be powered by different batterieshaving different voltage ratings. The predefined change in amplitude maybe measured from zero Volts (no battery or battery removed) and asubsequent peak Voltage (battery replaced) or it may be measured fromthe previously recorded depleted voltage (e.g., 3.8 Volts in FIG. 11 orthe minimum voltage before the period of time in which no voltageinformation is received) and a subsequent peak voltage (e.g. 4.8 Voltsor battery replaced). In some examples, the system may further determinethe period of time (e.g., as indicated by reference numeral 376) betweenthe previously recorded minimum depleted voltage and the subsequent peakVoltage and compare that to a predefined period of time as an additionalfactor in the detection of a battery replacement event.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example process (320) by which acomputing device may identify a battery replacement event based onbattery voltage information received from a hand hygiene productdispenser. A computing device (such as hospital computing device(s) 54,server computing device(s) 52, or other appropriate computing device(s))receives battery voltage information that is correlated to the actualbattery voltage of a dispenser (322). For example, the computing devicemay receive a digital indication correlated to the analog batteryvoltage. The computing device may receive the battery voltageinformation after each dispenser activation, at periodic intervals(e.g., once per hour, one per day, etc.), upon request of the computingdevice, or at any other time.

As discussed above, the computing device determines one or more factorsassociated with the dispense, such as the dispenser type (324) dispensedproduct information, or other factor(s), that may affect the low batterythreshold. The computing device may analyze the received voltageinformation over time (326). For example, the received voltageinformation may be analyzed along with an empirically determined batteryusage graph associated with the dispenser and/or the dispensed product(such as that shown in FIG. 5 or 6) to determine the percentage ofbattery remaining and/or the absolute voltage as compared to the lowvoltage threshold. If the analysis identifies a batter replacementevent, the system generates a battery replacement event message, and maystore the battery replacement event information along in a data store(328). A change in the received battery voltage may be used to identifya battery replacement event. For example, a sudden increase in thereceived battery voltage may, such as that shown in FIG. 11, mayindicate that new batteries were installed in a dispenser. The computingdevice may generate a battery status message/report indicating that thebatteries were replaced (328), along with, for example, a time and datestamp indicating the time of the replacement. This information may beused to confirm that batteries have been replaced, as well as to analyzethe propriety of the replacement (such as whether the batteries werereplaced at the proper time, replaced too early or too late). Thecomputing device may further analyze the battery replacement informationregarding multiple dispensers and their associated battery replacementhistory to present information concerning battery replacement over timein a hospital or other facility in which hand hygiene behaviors are tobe monitored.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example process (330) by which acomputing device may identify a product type based on battery voltagedata received from a hand hygiene product dispenser. Such a process maybe useful when the product type is not known, or if the battery usagedata does not conform to the empirically determined battery usage datafor the stored product type, which may indicate that a different orunauthorized product type has been loaded into the dispenser thanindicated by the information stored in the system.

A computing device (such as hospital computing device(s) 52, servercomputing device(s) 30, or other appropriate computing device(s))receives battery voltage information that is correlated to the actualbattery voltage of a dispenser (332). For example, the computing devicemay receive a digital indication correlated to the analog batteryvoltage. The computing device may receive the battery voltageinformation after each dispenser activation, at periodic intervals(e.g., once per hour, one per day, etc.), upon request of the computingdevice, or at any other time.

As discussed above, the computing device determines one or more factorsassociated with the dispense, such as the dispenser type (334) or otherfactor(s). The computing device may identify the battery usagecharacteristics based on the one or more factors (336). The computingdevice may analyze the voltage information received from the dispenserover time (338). For example, the voltage information received from thedispenser may be analyzed along with the battery usage characteristicsassociated with the dispenser type and one or more dispensed products(such as that shown in FIG. 5 or 6). The received voltage informationover time may be compared to the empirically determined battery usagegraphs to identify one of the empirically determined battery usagegraphs that most closely matches the received voltage information. Theproduct or subset of products associated with the identified batteryusage graph may be identified as the product type (340). The computingdevice may generate a product type message (342). This information maybe used to confirm proper hand hygiene product placement, or identifyinstances where a dispenser may have been loaded with a different orunauthorized hand hygiene product.

For example, the computing device may further compare the identifieddispensed product type corresponding to the identified discharge profilewith an authorized product type to determine whether the dispensedproduct type is an authorized product type (340). The system furtherconfigured to generate an unauthorized product type message if thedispensed product type is not an authorized product type (342).

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example process (350) by which acomputing device may identify a dispenser type and/or a product typebased on battery voltage data received from a hand hygiene productdispenser. Such a process may be useful when the dispenser type is notknown and/or the product type is not known.

A computing device (such as hospital computing device(s) 52, servercomputing device(s) 30, or other appropriate computing device(s))receives battery voltage information that is correlated to the actualbattery voltage of a dispenser (352). For example, the computing devicemay receive a digital indication correlated to the analog batteryvoltage. The computing device may receive the battery voltageinformation after each dispenser activation, at periodic intervals(e.g., once per hour, one per day, etc.), upon request of the computingdevice, or at any other time.

The computing device may analyze the received voltage information overtime (354). For example, the received voltage information may beanalyzed along with empirically determined battery usage graphs ordischarge profile associated with one or more dispensers and one or moredispensed products (such as that shown in FIG. 5 or 6). The receivedvoltage information over time may be compared to the empiricallydetermined battery usage graphs to identify one of the empiricallydetermined battery usage graphs that most closely matches the receivedvoltage information (356). As described herein, each empiricallydetermined battery usage graph or discharge profile is associated with aparticular dispenser type and/or product or subset of products. Once thegraph matching the received voltage information over time is determined,the computing device may identify the dispenser type and/or the producttype (358) and may also generate a dispenser type and/or a product typemessage (360). The computing device may further determine the lowbattery threshold based on the battery usage graph, the dischargeprofile, the dispenser type and/or the dispense product type (362). Thislow battery threshold may be subsequently used to identify potential lowbattery conditions and generate low battery condition alerts for thedispenser.

The techniques described herein may be implemented in hardware,software, firmware or any combination thereof. If implemented insoftware, the techniques may be realized at least in part by anon-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that,when executed by computer of a hand hygiene compliance system cause thecomputer to perform one or more of the techniques of this disclosure.The computer-readable data storage medium may form part of a computerprogram product, which may include packaging materials. Thecomputer-readable medium may comprise random access memory (RAM) such assynchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), read-only memory(ROM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM), FLASH memory, magnetic oroptical data storage media, a magnetic disk or a magnetic tape, anoptical disk or magneto-optic disk, CD, CD-ROM, DVD, a holographicmedium, or the like. The instructions may be implemented as one or moresoftware modules, which may be executed by themselves or in combinationwith other software.

The computer-readable instructions may be executed in the computer ofthe system by one or more processors, general purpose microprocessors,ASICs, FPGAs or other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuitry.

The instructions and the media are not necessarily associated with anyparticular computer or other apparatus, but may be carried out byvarious general-purpose or specialized machines. The instructions may bedistributed among two or more media and may be executed by two or moremachines. The machines may be coupled to one another directly, or may becoupled through a network, such as a local access network (LAN), or aglobal network such as the Internet. Accordingly, the term “processor,”as used herein may refer to any structure suitable for implementation ofthe techniques described herein.

Various aspects of the hand hygiene compliance system may also beembodied as one or more devices that include logic circuitry to carryout the functions or methods as described herein. The logic circuitrymay include a processor that may be programmable for a general purposeor may be dedicated, such as microcontroller, a microprocessor, aDigital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific IntegratedCircuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and the like.

One or more of the techniques described herein may be partially orwholly executed in software. For example, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium may store or otherwise comprisecomputer-readable instructions, i.e., program code that can be executedby a processor to carry out one of more of the techniques describedabove.

The hand hygiene compliance system may also incorporate healthcareworker training and continuing education, such as teaching new orongoing skills and changing paradigms and behaviors within hospitals.These may include, for example, hand hygiene training,compliance/procedural training, trainingoversight/monitoring/interventions, comprehensive training to impactoutcomes, medical school and association curriculum, certificationtraining, etc. This may include both upfront and periodic refreshertraining, training materials and a training process to help ensure thatHCWs are following hand hygiene best practices.

It should again be noted that although in certain examples features andcombinations of features are depicted as modules or units workingtogether, in different examples, the modules or units do not need to berealized by separate hardware or software components. Further, althoughcombinations of features are depicted in various examples, all thefeatures depicted in a specific example do not necessarily need to beimplemented together to produce a hand hygiene system according to thedisclosure.

Various examples have been described. These and other examples arewithin the scope of the following claims.

1. A system comprising: a product dispenser configured to dispense atleast one of a liquid, a gel, or a foam, the product dispenserincluding: one or more batteries configured to supply power to thedispenser; and a voltage sensor that senses voltage informationcorrelated to a battery voltage of the one or more batteries; theproduct dispenser configured to transmit dispenser data includingdispenser identification information associated with the dispenser andthe voltage information; and a computing device configured to identifyone of a plurality of low battery thresholds based on the dispenseridentification information, and determine a percentage of batteryremaining based on the voltage information and the identified one of theplurality of low battery thresholds.
 2. The system of claim 1 whereinthe computing device is further configured to: store a correlationbetween the percentage of battery remaining and a number of dispensesremaining; and generate a notification indicative of a number ofdispenses remaining based on the determined percentage of batteryremaining.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein the computing device isfurther configured to: estimate an amount of time remaining before a lowbattery condition will occur based on historical voltage informationassociated with the product dispenser and historical dispenseractivation information associated with the product dispenser.
 4. Thesystem of claim 3 wherein the computing device is further configured to:generate a notification indicative of the estimated amount of timeremaining before a low battery condition will occur.
 5. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the computing device is further configured to store acorrelation between the dispenser identification information and one ofa plurality of dispenser types.
 6. The system of claim 1 wherein theproduct dispenser is configured to dispense at least one of a sanitizer,a hand soap, a lotion, or an alcohol-based hand hygiene product.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1 further comprising generating a low battery conditionmessage if a low battery condition is detected.
 8. The system of claim 1wherein the product dispenser further includes at least one of anaudible indicator or a visual indicator that is activated upon detectionof a low battery condition.
 9. The system of claim 1 wherein theidentified one of the plurality of low battery thresholds is a globallow battery threshold applicable to any dispenser type and any dispensedproduct type.
 10. The system of claim 1 wherein the computing devicefurther includes a data storage media that stores the plurality ofdischarge profiles, each of the plurality of discharge profilescorresponding to one of a plurality of dispenser types.
 11. The systemof claim 1 wherein the computing device further includes a data storagemedia that stores, for each of the plurality of product dispensers, acorrelation between the dispenser identification information and one ofa plurality of dispenser types.
 12. A system comprising: a productdispenser configured to dispense at least one of a liquid, a gel, or afoam, the product dispenser including: one or more batteries configuredto supply power to the dispenser; and a voltage sensor that sensesvoltage information correlated to a battery voltage of the one or morebatteries; the product dispenser configured to transmit dispenser dataincluding dispenser identification information associated with thedispenser and the voltage information; and a computing device configuredto: identify one of a plurality of low battery thresholds based on thedispenser identification information; and detect a low battery conditionif the voltage information satisfies the identified one of the pluralityof low battery thresholds.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein thecomputing device is further configured to: compare historical voltageinformation for the product dispenser with current voltage informationfor the dispenser; and determine a number of dispenses remaining basedon the comparison.
 14. The system of claim 12 wherein each of theplurality of low battery thresholds correspond to at least one of aplurality of dispenser types.
 15. The system of claim 12 wherein thecomputing device is further configured to store a correlation betweenthe dispenser identification information and one of a plurality ofdispenser types.
 16. A system comprising: a product dispenser configuredto dispense at least one of a liquid, a gel, or a foam, the productdispenser including: one or more batteries configured to supply power tothe dispenser; and a voltage sensor that senses voltage informationcorrelated to a battery voltage of the one or more batteries; theproduct dispenser configured to transmit dispenser data includingdispenser identification information associated with the dispenser andthe voltage information; and a computing device configured to: store anassociation between the dispenser identification information and abattery discharge profile; and determine a number of dispenses remainingbased on the voltage information and the discharge profile associatedwith the dispenser identification information.
 17. The system of claim16, wherein the computing device is further configured to: determine apercentage of battery remaining based on the voltage information and thebattery discharge profile associated with the dispenser identificationinformation.
 18. The system of claim 16, wherein the computing device isfurther configured to: identify one of a plurality of low batterythresholds based on the dispenser identification information; and detecta low battery condition if the voltage information satisfies theidentified one of the plurality of low battery thresholds.
 19. Thesystem of claim 16 wherein the computing device is further configuredto: store a correlation between the dispenser identification informationand one of a plurality of battery discharge profiles.
 20. The system ofclaim 16 wherein the computing device is further configured to: generatea notification indicative of the number of dispenses remaining.